Love is
by chrisfaithalin
Summary: Through their journey to find the Horcruxes, the trio discovers what Love truly is. Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not envious, boastful, proud or rude. Love is not selfish, is not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not rejoi


Love is patient, love is kind.  
Love is not envious, boastful, proud or rude.  
Love is not selfish, is not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs.  
Love does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the truth.  
Love always protects, always believes, always hopes, always endures.  
Love never fails.  
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

**_Love is patient, love is kind. _**

_Dear Ginny,_

I miss you  
  
Harry crinkled up the piece of parchment he had started to write on and threw it into the campfire that was in front of him. He sighed heavily and stared at another piece of blank parchment on his lap. Resigned, he set the paper behind him on top of his pack. He glanced at Hermione who was sitting on Ron's lap and laughing at something he said and smiled. Harry was glad that there was a little happiness in the world.

Harry had been trying to write a letter to Ginny for the last two weeks, since they had started their journey to find the Horcruxes. The problem with writing Ginny was that the letters were misleading. In Harry's mind there was a good chance that he may not survive his mission. If that was the case, then he was just setting Ginny up for heartbreak. He had to keep her at a distance.

Staring into the fire, Harry distracted himself by trying to think ahead to tomorrow when they would journey ahead to find all the Horcruxes. They had already destroyed the necklace, which had been found at Grimauld Place. Now they were going to a village in the outskirts of Italy in search of the Ravenclaw item. They were being led there from a tip that Hermione had found in one of her numerous books on the history of Hogwarts and it's founders.

Harry felt the log he was sitting on shift as somebody sat down next to him. Hermione smiled as Harry jumped at the shift of weight. Harry glanced back to where Ron had been and didn't see him anywhere.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked.

"He's in the tent making his bed and getting for ready for the night," Hermione replied.

Harry glanced down at his watch and saw that it read 11 p.m. "I guess it is getting to that time."

"Yeah, you seemed kind of lost in your thoughts. So what is on your mind?"

Harry hesitated. He didn't know really what was on his mind. "I guess you could say anything and everything."

"Could you be any more vague?" Hermione laughed.

"Well, I couldn't be anymore specific."

"Well, you do seem to have a lot of troubles these days Harry James Potter." 

Harry glanced at Hermione and raised his eyebrows. "And what is new about this?"

"I am just saying that usually you vent about your problems, but you have been unusually quiet lately. I just want to make sure you are fine." 

"Everything is all normal in Potter-Land," Harry replied, trying to quiet Hermione's worries.

"Why don't I believe it?" Hermione asked, skeptically.

"How am I supposed to know? Why don't you go try to psychoanalyze somebody else?" Harry snapped impatiently.

Hermione did not move from her spot and took a deep breath before continuing, "I know you are under a lot of stress, and I don't assume to think that I or Ron will completely understand. However, you are doing no good by not talking to us. Sometimes you just need to talk things through. We are in this together and we are here to help." 

Harry knew Hermione was right. "I'm sorry." 

Hermione nodded her head and gave Harry a quick peck on the cheek before getting up from where she was sitting. "Don't stay up too late." Hermione walked towards the tent and entered it.

Harry listened to the giggling that ensued after Hermione entered the tent, then came the whispering and finally the couple drifted off to sleep as the silence was filled with Ron's snores. 

**_Love is not envious, boastful, proud or rude. _**

Hermione and Harry dropped the pile of wood they had been collecting in the forest while going over their theories on the Ravenclaw Horcrux. Ron was sitting on the ground waiting for them to return since he had placed the tent up for the night.

"Well, if you boys don't mind I am going to go find a nice cozy place in the woods to relieve myself," Hermione told the boys, blushing ever so slightly as she walked away.

Ron watched Hermione fade into the trees and waited till she was out of earshot before speaking. "So, what were you two talking about in there?"

Harry looked up from the fire that he had conjured and was now adding wood to. "We were just talking about the Ravenclaw Horcrux."

"A likely story. You were talking about me, weren't you?" Ron accused.

Harry was floored, and chose his words wisely as he started to speak, "I honestly don't know what you are talking about. We were talking about nothing but the damn Horcruxes."

Ron looked at Harry skeptically. "Then why did you wait until you were alone in the woods to talk about that when you could have discussed the Horcruxes here with me?"

"It just came up while we were getting the wood," Harry replied.

"That's another thing. Why did you have to volunteer to go gather wood with Hermione? I wanted to spend some alone time with her and here you had to go and steal it." Ron's temper was rising again.

"I just thought I would help out. I didn't know I was 'stealing time' away from you. If I would have known that then I wouldn't have done it."

Ron studied Harry's face and sighed, "you're right. I just can't help be suspicious."

Harry sat back next to Ron and asked, "why?"

"It's just you know. I got something before you and I just didn't know if you would try to top me or something," Ron replied, casually.

Harry was taken aback by what Ron was saying. "A-Hermione is not a piece of property to be taken. B-I would never do that."

Ron looked uninterested by what Harry had said. "You're right, I should trust you more. Love will do some crazy things to you though."

Hermione came walking back, ending the conversation. "So, what's for dinner."

Ron answered allowing Harry to slip into silence. Love? Wow, that was some heavy stuff. He didn't know that they were in love. For some reason Harry had always imagined love differently. Ron and Hermione were friends of course, but they fought a lot and just because they were friends, did that make what they have love? Harry didn't know.

_**Love is not selfish, is not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs.**_

"All I'm saying is that we are going to be famous when we find all of these things and defeat Voldemort," Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione as they searched through an abandoned mansion for another Horcrux.

"I think I am famous enough, thank you very much," Harry replied matter-of-factly as he looked around a corner quickly with his wand ahead of him.

"Ron this isn't about fame. This is about ridding the world of the most evil person in the world."

"I know, I know. It would just be an added bonus. That's what I am getting at."

Hermione shook her head as she followed Harry down another hallway that split into two directions.

"I wonder which way we should go," Harry wondered out loud, staring down both directions.

"I think we should go to the left, because from what I can deduct from the layout of the building plans there is a far higher likelihood that the Horcrux is to the left," Hermione told Harry automatically.

"I don't know," Ron answered. "I have a gut feeling that it's to the right."

"And what makes you say that," Hermione snapped at Ron.

"Well, like you said, it would seem that it would be on the left side of the building. I bet it is booby trapped, though. We should go the right."

"That is ridiculous."

"Why is my idea so ridiculous Hermione?" Ron asked, insulted.

"Like we are going to follow your advice. When have you ever been right abut these kind of things?"

Harry looked from Hermione to Ron. This was getting ugly fast. He didn't know what was getting into them. Weren't they supposed to be in love or something?

"So what are you saying Hermione? That I am incompetent? Then why do I even help out?

Hermione groaned. "Ron you really are the most aggravating person."

"Ron, Hermione, I don't mean to interrupt what is obviously a very pressing issue, but we still have to decide which way to go."

"Well, you know how we both feel, Harry," Hermione replied haughtily.

Harry knew that one way or the other he was going to hurt one of his friends. So, he had to decide solely on which way was the most logical. "I think Ron has a good point and I am going to the right."

Ron smiled triumphantly, which made Hermione even more furious. "Fine, if that is how you feel then right it is."

"No one's making you go with us. By all means, try the left side." Ron gestured down the hallway.

Hermione was filled with rage at Ron right now. "Fine, I will."

"And you will be coming back to us, crying at how you were all wrong and you will be apologizing to me," Ron added.

"Are you still talking? Do you love the sound of your own voice that much?" Hermione asked as she walked down the hallway.

Ron was about to reply, but Harry stopped him. "Let's just go Ron and see what we have at the end of this hallway."

Ron turned his gaze away from Hermione and stared down the hallway that they were about to journey down. "Yeah, that's fine."

Harry was relieved that the subject was dropped. His whole mind was still reeling from the way they were arguing. Was that really love? Because if it was, he didn't want to feel it.

Or did he feel it, for Ginny? The thought of her brought a little tug at his heart, but the tug was little. Did he love Ginny? No, love was something deeper. Sure he liked Ginny, but he didn't know her as well as he knew Hermione and Ron. Now that he thought of it, he didn't know her that well at all. He couldn't think of her favorite food, or favorite movie, or what her goals in life are. Fascinating. He could do that for Ron and Hermione in a heartbeat, but he couldn't do that for Ginny.

'Why did he date Ginny?' Harry thought to himself.

He couldn't think of any answer to that.

_**Love does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the truth**_

"Ow, that hurt Harry," Hermione yelled at Harry who was bandaging up her arm.

"Well, if you would hold still, then it wouldn't hurt so much," Harry replied calmly, trying to use the little bit of medicinal knowledge that he had.

"You shouldn't even be angry at Harry. If it had been me, I would have let you suffer. The pain would be a little reminder that you were wrong. I told you the hallway was probably cursed," Ron told Hermione.

"Shut up Ron," Hermione growled angrily.

"So, how does it feel to not be right for once?" Ron questioned, obviously proud himself.

"I don't know Ron, how does it feel every other time that you are wrong?" Hermione replied bitterly.

Harry got fed up with how the two of them were acting. "Will both of you just shut up. I am tired of listening to you two."

"Well, tell Ron to stop rubbing it in my face that I was wrong," Hermione told Harry.

"You are just bitter that I was right," Ron said.

"You both are being stupid," Harry accused. "Don't you two care that we have just destroyed the second to last Horcrux and we now have a solid lead to the last one? Who cares who was right. We should be happy with what was accomplished."

Hermione and Ron glanced at each other, ashamed at the way they had been acting.

"And to top it off, aren't you two supposed to be in love or something? I never knew that love was expressed by bickering and arguing. Maybe I just have a different view on love, but I always thought you were supposed to be kind and caring. I guess I am just being crazy. Well, if this the way that you two are going to keep acting, I don't want to be around you guys. Unless you change, I am going to continue without you," Harry dropped his ultimatum and stormed off to leave the two alone and to also give him some time to think.

Ron and Hermione both opened their mouths to apologize, and to talk over what Harry had said. Maybe there was a chance for change after all.

_**Love always protects, always believes, always hopes, always endures. **_

Harry and Hermione sat on a giant boulder that lay on the beaches of Ireland. They sat in that spot discussing anything and everything to pass the time until nightfall. They were waiting until darkness to finally go after the final Horcrux. Ron had decided to take a nap and Hermione tried to persuade Harry to do the same, but he wouldn't budge. He wanted to think through their plans. Hermione decided to follow him to the beach, wanting to keep an eye on Harry.

They had already discussed what they knew about the final Horcrux and had now drifted to a more superficial conversation.

"If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?" Hermione asked Harry.

"I would go skydiving. I think that would be so much fun to fly the Muggle way," Harry answered without thinking. "What about you?"

"I want to have the whole Louvre to myself for one day. Do you know how amazing that would be? All of the history that is in that building. Oh, I would just die if I ever had that opportunity." Hermione's eyes glazed over for a few minutes at the thought of wondering the halls of the famous museum. "Ok, your turn to ask a question."

Harry thought in silence for a few moments. "What is your greatest dream for your future?"

Hermione pondered the question for a few minutes. "To have my own family. To get married and have kids."

Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione. "Really, I never would have guessed that. I thought it would be to become some leading person in research, or make an important breakthrough or something."

Hermione smiled at Harry. "That all would be very nice, and I would love for that to come true, but when I look at my parents and the life they have, I just get this desire to have what they have. The security that they have, and the happiness. I want that first and foremost in my life. Everything else would just be an added bonus. What about Harry James Potter? What is his hope for the future?"

Harry didn't have think long before answering. "I just want a peaceful life. I don't really know any specifics, I just know that I want to be happy and peaceful. I guess, I haven't really thought that far ahead, because I half expect that this battle with Voldemort is going to cost me my life," Harry confessed his worst fear.

Hermione didn't look fazed. "That is my greatest fear Harry, but we have to hope for the best. You will survive. You will have the chance to live a normal life."

"How do you know?" Harry asked Hermione, skeptical of what she said.

"I just know, I can feel it in my bones," Hermione replied truthfully.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, lost in thoughts of the future. It was such a vague idea of what could happen. What would life hold for them in a year, two months, or even in three days? Their life had become so uncertain that it was hard to tell.

"Well, the sun is going down. We should go wake up Ron and be on our way," Harry broke the comfortable silence between the two of them.

Hermione looked nervously at Harry. She had been dreading this for their whole conversation, but she knew what she had to do. "Harry, I think we need to wait until tomorrow to go after the Horcrux. You really need to sleep and eat something."

Harry looked slightly annoyed at Hermione. "I'm fine."

"No you're not. You can't fool me Harry. You haven't slept in over two days, I know you have been tossing and turning all night. And I haven't seen you eat more than one or two meals in the last three days. You look so pale. Please just wait until tomorrow to go after the Horcrux."

Harry shook his head. "I can't do that. Voldemort is onto us and we can't give him an extra day to move the Horcrux."

"Well, send me. I can do it."

"I don't doubt that, but Voldemort probably had it heavily guarded and this is my responsibility to do."

"Harry, it's your responsibility to fight Voldemort, not to find the Horcruxes. Ron and I can help you. That is why we are here. I feel that if you go tonight, that you may die. I love you too much to let that happen. Please, can't we just wait until tomorrow?" Hermione pleaded with Harry one last time.

Harry reeled when he heard those words. Hermione loved him. Yes, in a platonic way, but still. He knew that he loved Hermione too. That led to other thoughts that were zipping through his mind. What made his love with Hermione different than Ron's? Obviously the whole romantic thing, but really, what was the difference in the level of caring? Nothing, he would do anything for Hermione, as she would probably do for him. But, that didn't change his answer. "I can't do that."

Hermione frowned deeply. "I was afraid you would say that. _Petrificus Totalus_." Hermione cast the spell on Harry."You really left me with no choice."

Hermione used the hovering charm on Harry and floated him back to where Ron was taking a nap. She woke him up and Ron looked around groggily, confused as to what was going on.

Harry for that matter didn't know what to do. He couldn't believe what Hermione was doing, and he had a sinking suspicion to what this was going to lead to.

"Ron, I need you to force feed Harry and then brew a sleeping potion and force Harry to take it," Hermione told Ron.

"But, why?" Ron looked even more confused.

"Ron, look at our friend. Look at what he has become."

Ron looked down at Harry and for the first time in weeks, really took in his features. He felt like the worst friend in the world for not noticing his deathly pale skin that stood out even more against his black cloak. His cheeks were hollow and there were brown circles around his eyes.

"Whoa, Harry you look terrible. But Hermione, why are you having me do this?" Ron questioned.

Hermione turned from Ron, bent over her pack, and grabbed her cloak. She put it on, snapping the buttons as she answered Ron's questions. "I am going to go after the final Horcrux."

"WHAT?" Ron yelled. "You can't do that by yourself. You could die."

Hermione turned to Ron, with her wand raised. "I _can _do this and I will. If you are not going to do what I say and help Harry, then I will have no hesitations in doing to you what I did to him."

Ron didn't doubt that. "Why not let me go with you?"

"Because, I need to do this for Harry. You need to stay and help Harry. He needs to be strong enough to fight Voldemort."

"I just don't know if you can do this," Ron mumbled skeptically.

"Ron, if you truly loved me, then you would believe in me. Now I can see you don't love me. You never did. You loved the idea of loving me."

This was too much for Ron to take. Why was this all coming at him at once? "Are we breaking up?"

Hermione smiled sadly at Ron. "Did you ever really love me as more than a friend? Both of our hearts weren't really in it. You know you felt it too." Hermione took Ron's silence as a consent. She walked towards Ron and kissed him on the cheek. "I care for you so much, but as a friend. And that will never change. I will always be there for you. Please, all I am asking you to take care of our friend."

Ron nodded meekly, knowing that Hermione was right about all of it. It was obvious to him now.

Hermione walked to where Harry lay. She kneeled down and ran her left hand through his hair while her right hand cupped his cheek. "I love you, more than I can say, and I will come back for you." Hermione bent over and kissed his forehead softly and headed away to find and destroy the last Horcrux.

_**Love never fails. **_

A flash of blinding green light and two screams filled the graveyard where Hermione and Ron were currently dueling two Death Eaters. Hermione and Ron glanced at each other, fear in their eyes as they finished each Death Eaters and ran towards the source of the light and sounds.

On the ground lay two figures. Both appeared to be dead.

Hermione ran towards Harry, fear rising in her body. She collapsed next to him, gathering his upper body in her arms. She felt tears prick at her eyes.

Ron looked down at his best friends, afraid to speak, but knowing he had to ask. "Is he dead Hermione?"

"You're not getting rid of me that easily Weasley," Harry spoke ever so softly, cracking his eyes open.

Hermione laughed out of pure joy, seeing that he was alive. She hugged Harry even more fiercely crying and laughing at the same time. Harry smiled weakly at Hermione, glad to see her in front of him.

Ron looked uncomfortably at the Harry and Hermione. He felt like he was intruding on something private. That was when it hit him. It hit him like a ton of bricks. It became painfully obvious to Ron that this was love, sitting in front of him. Love in it's purest form. Nothing like what he and Hermione had. This was the real deal. Instead of feeling jealous or angry, he felt so happy for his two best friends. Harry deserved this more than anybody else in the world, knowing that he never had love in his life. Ron smiled at them and turned away to make sure that all of the Death Eaters were secure and that none would be getting away.

"I've never been more happy that you were right. I made it."

"I don't care about being right, I just care that you are here in my arms, safe and sound. You will get to live your life of peace and quiet, because you did it. You defeated Voldemort."

"I killed him because I had the greatest weapon against him."

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"You," Harry confessed. "Your love was the greatest weapon against Voldemort. Knowing that, I knew I could beat him. And I did. Your love did not fail me," Harry smiled at Hermione, gathering his strength to raise his hand to her cheek to wipe away the tears.

"Oh Harry," Hermione sighed and lowered herself to kiss Harry, feeling as if she was at peace and all was right in the world. She had Harry's love and he had hers. And she knew, that their love would never fade.

A/N-I really wanted to get this out for the competition, feeling that this would be the perfect story for it. I have had this idea for a couple years now, but book 6 gave me the platform to write this story. I hope you enjoyed it. It is definitely not my best work, as I was cranking it out in time for today's deadline, but I really like how it turned out. If you like this, I have other stories that are worth reading and please drop me a review to tell me what you think. I have more story ideas that will be coming out in the near future.


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